


Tonight

by Mareel



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Romance, Shore Leave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 03:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharing the fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place just before Jonathan takes up his position as Ambassador to Andoria, eighteen years after the launch of the _Enterprise NX-01_. It's Jonathan's voice. He and Malcolm have a long-established relationship..

 

The sunset tonight was spectacular – all oranges and golds splashing both sky and water, blurring any boundary between them. But it’s the lingering dusk, after the sea finally swallows the last of the sun, which holds my gaze. 

The deep purple of the waves is still lightly gilded, just enough to define the ripples lapping the shore as the tide begins to roll in. And there is a hint of stars. 

We’re not too far from the tideline, settled in for the evening on the beach. Malcolm calls this our rock, the massive outcropping that provides a little shelter from the wind and the illusion of privacy. We do seem to end up here every time we visit the little coastal town we’ve adopted as our west coast getaway. This is a place we’ve laughed and cried, a place we’ve argued and made love… sometimes all on the same visit. 

For the moment, I’m content just to hold him. Tomorrow evening we leave for Andoria, a frozen world light-years away whose scenic attractions will be very different from this. 

It’s late in the season for tourists, and we’re alone out here tonight. The afternoon sun was warm and we both were shirtless as we walked the beach, but it’s cooling now in the twilight. When I feel his small shiver, I draw him closer until his back rests against my chest, wrapping my arms around him to share warmth. I’m too comfortable to want to move enough to retrieve our shirts or a blanket from the tote bag that had held the sandwiches we’d brought for dinner. 

His nearness distracts me from my stargazing. It feels much more important to rest my cheek against his hair and breathe in his scent, irresistibly mingled with salt spray. My own body assures me we’ll be more than warm enough soon, and indeed his next shiver has nothing at all to do with the cold. 

“Jonathan…” 

His murmur of my name kindles the same fire between us as it did the first time he spoke it, the first time he kissed me. Tonight as he turns in my arms, his kiss blurs both time and surroundings.

__________________________________

When I next look toward the sky, it’s full dark and a thin crescent moon accents the starscape. Malcolm’s body still covers mine, and though I know we’ll need to go inside soon, I don’t want to move just yet. It’s our last night on Earth for at least five years, and we should spend it in a proper bed, but lying with him beneath our own stars simply feels right.

Threading my fingers through his hair, I breathe his name. “Malcolm…” 

I know he understands all that it signifies, all we’ve said before and will say again… but don’t need words for tonight.

 

 


End file.
